there's a new sheriff in town...

As parents we have to deal with difficult things when it comes to raising our kids. Working parents, single parents, stay-at-home parents, or like me… stay-at-home parent with not a lot of patience. Each of these kinds of parenting comes with its own difficulties. The fact is, in general, kids are hard to raise and even harder to keep up with (at least for this almost 40 year old they are).

I can only speak of myself, the stay-at-home parent with not a lot of patience. I think I should start by saying that my kids are AWESOME and they are my life.  With that said… they can drive me pretty crazy most times. For me, the most difficult time of parenting is when I’m sick and that is how I spent last week. Sore throat, migraine headache, stuffy nose, itchy eyes, what I refer to as allergyinsanewindanitus.

For some reason when I’m sick my kids think it’s some kind of party vacation for them. It’s as if all rules put in place by me are temporarily suspended and new rules now apply. And who is in charge of making those new rules, well the self-proclaimed new person in charge, of course… Jase.  Once Jase has learned of my being sick he proceeds to tell his sisters that he is now in charge and they must follow his rules or else suffer dire consequences.

Jase-In-Charge looks something like this - he gets to decide what will be showing on the t.v., he will decide what food & drinks will be served, he will decide what toys can be played with and by whom, and from what I could tell, I think, he was implementing a bathroom schedule (either that or he was just forbidding Bryce from using that particular bathroom… ever). Of course, none of this sits well with Bryce and she loudly protests everything that Jase-In-Charge is declaring. She does this over and over and over and over again.

Jase-In-Charge declares a breakfast of sliced bread & syrup with teddy graham cookies on the side, Bryce concurs that this is a suitable breakfast, and the cookies win Sophie over. Now they are all happy and full of sugar. Side note: teachers do not love when you send your kids to school full of sugar. I know this from the number of calls I received from Jase’s teacher & the assistant principal last week. Good times.

My favorite was when Jase-In-Charge decided he would drive to who knows where and demanded his sisters get in my car and buckle up (I’m pretty sure it didn’t take much persuasion on his part). Fortunately, he knew better than to put the key in the ignition; but it didn’t stop him from repositioning every seat, mirror and air vent, turning the air-conditioner on full blast, blinker and interior lights on, and jacking up the movie player. I was one grumpy sick momma when I got in my car to take Bryce to school that morning, and Jase was one lucky kid because he was at school at the moment. 

I have to admit other than a few instances of Jase trying to pull one over on sick ol’ mom and one or two meals comprised of nothing but sugar or cheese-its,  things weren’t that difficult last week. Oh, I almost forgot, there was that one morning when Bryce and Sophie got a hold of the phone and called several people off of the caller-id list, in hopes of talking to their dad on the phone. That one was actually kinda funny… the first couple of times.

I’m just glad I’m feeling better this week and again I feel I should repeat, both for my sake and yours… I think my kids are AWESOME and they are my life.  With that said… they can drive me pretty crazy most times.

when i grow up

Yesterday, Jase told me what he wants to be when he grows up. He asked, "When I grow up can I be more than one thing?" My response was the typical "mom trying to be a good mom" answer, "Sure, you can be whatever you wanna be when you grow up." He then proceeded to list the things he wants to be, all FOUR of them. A cowboy, a police officer, a Texas Ranger baseball player, and the coolest of all... a "fire" cook (one of those guys who cooks the food at your table at a Japanese steakhouse, they make silly jokes, lots of smoke, big blazing flames, and train noises).

Of course, I had to go back and revise my previous answer to his question by stating, "You can be whatever you wanna be when you grow up, just maybe not all at the same time." To this, he replied, "Well, I will be a police officer and a Texas Ranger baseball player first. Then when I'm old, like you & daddy, I will be a cowboy and a "fire" cook."  All I could come back with was, "That's sounds like a great plan to me".

Bryce chimed in and said she wanted to work at Wal-Mart, that way she could see me while she was working. Apparently, I shop at Wal-Mart a lot. Then she asked me a question that should have been simple for me to answer, but for the life of me, I couldn't come up with one. She asked, "What did you wanna be when you got grewed, mom?"

I tried to picture myself, as a kid, daydreaming in class or beaming with joy as I announced to my parents what I wanted to be when I grew up, but nothing came to mind. Hhmm, I'm sure I wanted to be something. Now, as a grown-up, I find lots of things I want to be when I grow up... like Jennifer Lopez, or Jillian Michaels, or an author of fiction stories, or a movie critic. Those all sound like pretty awesome things to be when one grows up. But, thinking back now, the only thing that comes to mind was that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, to pick my kids up from school and have homemade cookies waiting on the kitchen counter for them.

Yesterday's conversation with my kids made me realize something. Even though, staying home with my kids can drive me crazy most of the time, and almost daily, I consider getting back into the work field,  the fact is... though I don't bake the cookies, I buy 'em, I'm still living my dream!

being a kid cool/tooth fairy not so cool

SPOILER ALERT: If the tooth fairy still visits you, you should probably not read this!

My son, Jase, is seven years old. He's not a baby anymore... he's a kid. I'm learning that having a "kid" is really super cool. Don't get me wrong, babies are great. They are sweet, snuggly, and well... they're just a whole batch a greatness. BUT... a kid, that's a whole nuther kinda greatness. Kids can do things themselves, and coming from someone who has consistently been changing diapers, putting on shoes and buckling car seats for the past seven years... it's the sweet life.

Jase has always been more independent than my girls. He walked, talked and potty trained at a much earlier age. He likes doing things himself, and often times this led to some pretty scary disasters (not to mention a few calls to the Poison Control Center). I'm glad he learned to be strong and not shy away from things though.

This is especially true now that he has started loosing his baby teeth. I'm a total wimp when it comes to pulling teeth. My gag reflux kicks in and I'm completely useless leaving Jase to have to fend for himself. He does the wiggling and the pulling with no help from me. Most likely he will continue the role of official tooth-puller when his sisters start loosing their teeth.

The one thing I HAVE to be responsible for is being the tooth fairy. Sounds like it should be pretty easy, right? WRONG! I always forget to do it before I fall asleep at night, which means I have to try to sneak at it before I wake him in the mornings. And, as I've mentioned before, I'm a complete zombie in the mornings, so I tend to loose what little amount of gracefulness that I have. The 'tooth for money' exchange is not as smooth as it should be, so I find that I have to be clever which doesn't come so easy in the mornings. Like this morning, I left the money, but forgot to take the tooth. I told Jase that the tooth fairy probably couldn't find it due to all the toys he had on his bed. He bought my story and figured the tooth fairy would come back tonight to get it.

Awesome.... I get to be the tooth fairy again tonight.

I'm sharing this McDonald's commercial with you, because I think it is super cute and it always makes me smile. So check it out.